Alberta introduces bill to support ranching sector

Oct 17, 2019

The Public Lands Modernization Amendment Act will direct some revenues to be reinvested into rangeland initiatives

By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com

Alberta’s provincial government is introducing a bill to modernize the rent and fees ranchers pay to use Crown land.

On Tuesday, Environment Minister Jason Nixon introduced Bill 16: The Public Lands Modernization Amendment Act. If passed, the bill will, over a five-year period, update regulations that have been stagnant since 1994.

Part of the bill includes putting the fee structure more in line with market conditions, meaning fees will increase or decrease based on how markets are performing. The legislation also includes measures to reduce red tape when transferring a lease.

“Ranchers are an important part of our province, and the government is listening to their needs,” Devin Dreeshen, Alberta’s ag minister, said in an Oct. 15 release. “We’re committed to cutting regulatory red tape to make their jobs easier.”

The trade-off for increased fees is that the provincial government will reinvest some of the revenues into rangeland sustainability initiatives.

“There’s going to be some sort of sustainability fund for improvements on the land,” Charlie Christie, chair of Alberta Beef Producers, told Farms.com.

The government will collect a minimum of $2.5 million in annual revenue from the leases. And 30 per cent of any revenue exceeding $2.9 million will go into that fund.

Another benefit for the industry is that is minimizes the chances of a trade action with global trading partners.

“Any kind of countervailing concerns are gone once we can demonstrate that (the fee structures) are tied to market prices and that it isn’t a subsidy,” Christie said.

Alberta has issued about 6,500 grazing leases in the province, covering more than six million acres of Crown land.

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.